Last season, Samadan was the nation’s fourth-best blocker
(UW’s Amanda Gil finished number
one), where she played under coach James
Finley at Virginia Commonwealth
before both moved west to Seattle U. This year, Samadan led the Redhawks with
50 kills in her first four matches, including a solid .400 hitting percentage.

“She hurt her back during warmups,” said Finley. “She’s the
leader of our team, emotionally, physically and otherwise.”

“I was bummed,” said Washington coach Jim McLaughlin of Samadan’s injury. “We had a good plan for Seattle
U, and we looked forward to meeting them with (Samadan) in there.”

Even with their star player, the Redhawks might have
struggled. The Huskies’ serve-and-pass game was dominant, with Jenni Nogueras again a service-line
standout. The senior setter had several strong service runs, including 4 aces,
part of a 13-0 Washington ace advantage.

“The serving was great,” said McLaughlin, giving credit to
new assistant coach Keegan Cook. “Keegan has worked with all our players on
their serves. I like the way he teaches, I like the way he measures, I like his
process.”

Although McLaughlin was less-enamored with his team’s
passing, it hardly showed against the depleted Redhawks. Both Nogueras and fellow
setter Katy Beals were consistently
able to feed their sophomore middles, Melanie
Wade (6 kills, 1 error on 9 attempts; .556) and Lianna Sybeldon (5 kills, 1 error on 8 swings; .500) for quick
attacks, something only possible with good passing. Senior Kylin Muñoz and junior Krista
Vansant led all Washington hitters with 7 kills each. For Seattle U, Stephanie Stoll (from Issaquah High
School) and Allison Farley also had 7 kills apiece. For the match, Washington
outhit Seattle .366-.099.

Coming into the contest, an injury to another star player
had received the most attention—an ankle injury suffered Saturday by Vansant.
She played the entire match, and even convinced McLaughlin to keep her in
during the third set, when there was little doubt about the match’s outcome.

Saturday’s ankle sprain “scared the hell out of” Vansant,
said McLaughlin. He says he’ll insist that she follow the training staff’s directive
that she wear a protective boot for much of the rest of the week.

NOTES:

With Washington leading 15-9 in the first set, a Seattle U
dig flew high enough to hit the underside of the arena scoreboard, resulting—by
rule—in a Washington point. That’s the first time we could remember that occurring
since the new scoreboard was installed at the start of the 2012 season. A
source confirms the scoreboard was raised during the break between sets one and
two.

McLaughlin placed Vansant and Kaleigh Nelson on the left side, with Muñoz and Gabbi Parker on the right. Last season,
Nelson was on the right, and Parker often came off the bench on the left. Cassie Strickland, last season’s OH2,
played mostly a server/DS role, and had several athletic digs.

Washington’s two freshmen—Carly DeHoog and Bailey
Tanner—remained in street clothes, each still recovering from injuries
sustained during training.

In the only other action last night involving the Pac-12, #12
Oregon defeated Portland State 3-0 (25-10, 28-26, 25-14) in Eugene.

Tonight, Oregon State
is at Eastern Michigan and #2 Stanford is at Pacific. Last weekend, Pacific swept heavily-favored #20 Michigan State. This weekend, both
Oregon and Oregon State meet Michigan State and #7 Michigan. Tomorrow night, #10 UCLA is at Santa Clara.

UW is offering special ticket deals for this week’s
back-to-back matches against the Canadian
National Team. Admission to Friday’s 6PM at Key Arena is $10, with the ticket stub good for free admission to
Saturday’s 7PM rematch in Alaska Airlines Arena. On both nights, children
12-and-under are admitted free. Key Arena, of course, is the site of the 2013 Final Four; if you haven’t bought
tickets, it’s a chance to check out the view of the volleyball court from the
seats still available.